Is This a Leaked Blizzard Product Slate and Schedule?

So this image comes to us courtesy of a post at MMO Champion who report is was posted at a Chinese game site called MMOGameSite.com, and they offer the same warning that we’ll offer here, blockquoted so you can’t ignore it:

This document, even if it is real, is already outdated. It is very likely that it is not real at all. Even if it is real, Blizzard will never acknowledge it as such, and you should not – not now, not ever – go posting on the official forums claiming there’s a “timeline” according to this image and that you’re “wondering where XXXX title is.” Got it?

Now then, the slide itself, if it is real, likely comes from some internal presentation of product strategy, but I even have a difficult time believing that – most companies have a standard template for presentation slides, and this really isn’t it. Then again, it could be a template-stripped export, so who knows – anything is possible, and a lot of people are concluding that it is the real thing.

The timeline however, especially as it pertains to World of Warcraft isn’t anything special – the expansion schedule looks solid and makes sense. Based on this, we would be looking at a new WoW expansion every year and a half, give or take, and that jives with previous release schedules. I’m a little put off as to why Blizzard would have the timeline of the World of Warcraft Movie on their internal documentation for anything but planning – as far as I know, it’s Blizzard’s IP, but they’re not controlling the filming or production schedule.

I also have to say – I’m really interested in the “WOW/Mobile” inclusion there. Mobile? There’s no way to tell what they mean, but Blizzard has been pushing in the direction of mobile devices, but how far they’re planning to go we’ll have to wait and see.

“Titan,” which everyone is assuming is Blizzard’s so-called “Next Generation MMO,” is undoubtedly going to be pushed from that date, but the biggest thing I’m interested in is that Diablo 3 release date: I would be a very very happy boy if we saw Diablo 3 at the end of next year. Although I’ll be interested to see if Blizzard really does take the tack of releasing “expansions” to Diablo 3, the same way they’re stretching out StarCraft 2 content – which is also reflected on the slide.

What do you think? True or false? Real or fake? Or does it not matter at all?